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Monday, October 24, 2016

Mark your calendars! Our annual A Little Bird Told Me Handmade Holiday Sale is now only about 8 weeks away. Saturday, December 10th, from 4-8 pm at Little City Farm.

We are excited to host this beautiful sale every year, bringing together a variety of local artisans who create unique items with an eco-conscious mind. Many of the items are made with reclaimed or repurposed materials, and others are made using organic ingredients or natural materials.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by our Little City Farm booth at the Kitchener Public Library's 2nd annual DIY Festival. We were there to share basic homesteading skills, and we decided to talk about how to grow sprouts at home. Here are a few basic tips and suggestions for successful sprouting, perfect to get started now that the weather is turning colder and we are no longer eating fresh greens (other than kale and chard) from our local gardens!

The Basic
Steps of Sprouting

Rinsing
– water is key – use lots, rinse 2-3 times per day, keep sprouts
in cool location.

Draining
– it is essential that sprouts are well-drained after rinsing!

Air
Circulation – keep sprouts in well-vented area with good air
circulation, not in a closed cabinet.

Cleanliness
– start with clean seed, sterilized containers, and wash well
between uses.

Storage
– store completed sprouts in fridge – some sprouts can keep up
to 6 weeks if stored properly.

Hints
and suggestions for sprout success

Alfalfa and
other small seeds can be grown up to 4 cm long. A 25 g bag of
alfalfa seed can grow 45 cups of sprouts!

Lentils &
peas are best small, with sprouts up to 1 cm long. They get tougher
with more growth.

Miss a
rinsing? Just continue normally if sprouts seem alive and show no
signs of mold. They should be fine.

Mold – if
you see a spot of mold, remove it with a good margin of healthy
sprouts. Don’t mistake the fuzzy white root hairs of radish,
canola, mustards, and other crucifers for mold.

Taste –
be sure to taste sprouts as you go along; use them when you like
them.

Greening –
to green up sprouts (chlorophyll), leave them without a cover for a
few hours in bright light (not direct sunlight).

Temperature
– sprouts grow best between 18C-25C (65F-75F). Use lukewarm water
for soaking and rinsing in a cooler temperature, and cold water in a
warmer room temperature.

Drainage –
drain the sprouts well before they go in the fridge. Rinse in the
morning, cover, and refrigerate in the afternoon.

Mung beans
– grow best in a drainable tray or basket. They like extra
rinsing, and are best grown in complete darkness to prevent
bitterness.

Benefits
of Growing Sprouts at Home

the
fastest, easiest, most affordable way

to
grow your own food!

very
affordable food source

accessible
food source (grow right in your kitchen)

allows
you to eat extremely local all year round

sprouts
are nutrient-dense food, high in vitamins and minerals

enjoy
unique flavours & textures

sprouted
food is easier on the digestive system

sprouts are living foods full of health and vitality for us

sprouting
makes nutrients more available to our bodies

easy
to grow (takes only a few minutes per day)

sprout
growing takes up little space (a kitchen counter or top of fridge)

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Last weekend's Kraut & Kimchi class is a favourite that we offer several times a year. At this time of season the group make an autumn root-veggie inspired lacto-fermented kraut to take home. We had lots of samples to taste and show the breadth of flavour and texture that can be done with lacto-fermentation. Then the hands-on work began, at which point many hands made short work of a huge pile of carrots, daikon, beets, cabbage, turnip and more!

Today's art class was all about peg dolls! The kids each made one doll to take home, little Autumn gnomes with wool capes and hoods. We read a few stories about gnomes (or tomtens) to get into the spirit of making our own gnome friends, and talked about how they are sometimes thought of as guardians of the home, garden, forest or farm.

Making gnomes really brought out the creativity in the kids - each gnome had it's own personality as there were numerous embellishments added (eyes, beads, buttons, long braided hair, shoes!); there were different coloured capes and embroidered stitching by the older kids; there were leaves, feathers and acorns pasted onto the gnome outfits; extra clothes and scarves made for the gnomes, and so on! We hope these unique gnomes will become helpful little guardians in each of the children's homes!

Last week the kids in our Waldorf art classes tried their hands at another wool project - wool felting. Working with soft wool roving in vibrant colours is always a favourite kids activity. The tactile nature of wool felting is soothing and relaxing, and the art that comes from it is always beautiful even for a beginner.

In the class we talked about where we find felted wool in our lives - maybe as coasters, under table or chair legs, made into warm waterproof slippers or winter boot liners, wool diaper covers for babies, and even (in some cultures) traditionally made into houses such as the amazing wool yurts in Mongolia in which whole families can live!

There are many ways to felt wool - any which of us hasn't done some accidental wool felting at least once when we shrink a favourite 100% wool sweater in the wash? The basic idea with wet felting is to use hot water, soap, and friction, to bring the wool barbs together tightly into a wool mat. The more friction or agitation, the tighter the wool felt will become. There is also needle felting in which a sharp felting needle is used to poke at the wool barbs to bring them together. We used several techniques with the kids - the younger group wet felting using a simple ziploc bag method (see below), and the older group used bubble wrap and mat rolling method (see below). We used white wool roving as our base "canvas" and layered colours on top. There were such lovely art pieces that came out of this, and most of the kids could have keep going long after class was over.

How to wet felt with wool:

Ziploc Bag Technique (great for younger kids)
a) Lay out base wool roving (white) on a table. Mist with hot soapy water. Press firmly down with both hands on wet wool to flatten.
b) Layer any coloured wool into a pattern as desired on top of the white wool roving. Mist again.
c) Place wet wool into ziploc bag, then flatten it out as best you can before sealing the bag.
d) Agitate the bag, pressing, pounding and rolling it, to felt the wool.
e) Take out wool, let dry on flat surface. It will tighten up and shrink a little as it dries overnight.

Bubble Wrap & Mat Technique (great for older kids)
a) Lay out bamboo sushi mat, and cover with one piece of bubble wrap that is a similar size to the mat.
b) Now lay out while wool roving on the bubble wrap, and mist with hot soapy water.
c) Lay out colours of roving into a picture or pattern as desired. Mist again.
d) Carefully roll up the sushi mat around the bubble wrap and wool.
e) Agitate the wool by rolling and pressing the mat as firmly as possible. The longer this is done, then more felted the piece will become.
f) Unroll then let wool art piece dry on a flat surface. It will tighten up and shrink a little as it dries overnight.

Welcome!

At Little City Farm we are an urban homesteading family of four trying to live simply and sustainably in a mid-sized city in southwestern Ontario.

We have been living on our 1/3 acre city homestead for 15 years, using the principles of permaculture as our guide, while trying to minimize our impact on the environment. You can reach us at: info {at} littlecityfarm.ca